I don’t know about you, but this was the first political convention I’ve followed with interest and a great degree of concern. We need to embrace our diversity, to look for the good in each other, and notice the positive things we see happening every day. I was appalled by what I saw occur during the Republican convention. It was shocking to witness such divisiveness, hate, pessimism and fear mongering. Everything was dark and ominous. Our country wasn’t built on that. It was built on faith, optimism, a genuine caring for each other and working together for the greater good. That is the American way! We teach our children to be compassionate, to respect each other no matter their race, or religion, and to find something positive in everything and everyone. How can we expect them to believe us when they see a bully running for president, an individual who has no respect for women, disabled people, minority groups, immigrants, even experienced judges, let alone heroic veterans and those in the military who have dedicated their lives to serving our country and protecting our freedom.

What if this irresponsible, inexperienced, bigoted person, whose only accomplishment is enriching himself while cheating and taking advantage of others less powerful, were to become leader of the free world? Will he stop and erode all the hard fought progress made by honest, hard working champions for our way of life?

So how do you respond when a young person asks, “Why is this bully running for president, I’m afraid of him,” or “Why doesn’t he like Mexicans, is he going to send us back to Mexico? We have to let our kids know that just because he has succeeded at something, doesn’t mean he’s someone to follow or vote for. That freedom of speech is part of our constitution and the law of the land allowing anyone to exercise it freely. Sadly, has taken advantage of this.

Let your kids know that anger is a normal emotion, sometimes we all feel this way. The main goal is to allow one to express his/her feelings and not to keep them bottled up inside. We need to let them know that sometimes people say hurtful things when they are frightened, unhappy, immature, and jealous of those who have been successful in their lives. Bullies often feel threatened by the accomplishments of others so they lash out.

Parents and/or teachers should ask questions and listen to what the kids have to say.

Here are some tips.

Ask what they think about the presidential nominees

Who are the candidates?

What kind of people are the candidates?

What are some of the things they’ve been talking about?

Who would you vote for and why?

Express how you feel and give clear reasons why. This will help children learn coping skills when they feel unhappy, angry and fearful. These actions will aid them in understanding that they have choices, are connected and empowered.

This is an opportunity to hold a discussion about differencesof opinion, how to debate respectfully, and how to fight for a cause. Create various scenarios that they can role play.

Use historical events to help make sense out of what is happening today. Spend classroom time talking about current events on a daily basis. Do not try to sway their opinion with your own.

Parents should also join in with a statement of how they feel about the election.

They could do the following with their children, view anti-racial speeches. attend a rally, write a letter to the candidate, take their child to vote with them.

Last, but not least, allow the children to speak freely about anything that is on their mind. Be honest and sincere when answering their questions.

The way influential adults act and talk about women, immigrants and each other is important. It is the basis for how our kids view the government, society and relationships. If this negativity continues, it will change our world for the worse and we don’t want to go to a place that we will never be able to return from. As adults, it is our responsibility to say what is on our mind, to let our voices be heard by voting, and to be role models for our charges.
I have strong feelings this election season, and I hope that I haven’t offended anyone with this post. Thanks for reading….

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The bundle packet includes 75 games and activities that all target teaching the 6 types of syllables in reading: Closed Syllables, V-C-e Syllables, r-Controlled Syllables, Open Syllables, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong Syllables, and Final Stable Consonant Syllables.
The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts. Learning to read by identifying the type of syllable is the most consistent method to teach reading to your students, and the easiest way for your students to learn to read.These 75 activities/games can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading!At the present, I am creating my last packet of game and activities to go with the final stable syllable type, and once I complete it, I will make it available. Also, if you would like to preview what is in the packet, just click on the preview tab and you can see a sample of some (not all of them) of the games in the packet.

Schindler’s List
the Holocaust
WW II
non-fictionThis is a small part of my larger TpT unit on Schindler’s List – my more in-depth unit combines the questions that are included here and adds other questions and competences:

The CCSS “lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the 21st century.” Integrating film into your curriculum is an excellent way to satisfy many of the new Common Core State Standards.

TEACHER TIP:
You don’t need to show entire films, just short clips of these films, to develop competences deemed essential in the new CCSS guidelines.

INCLUDED IN THIS UNIT ARE THE FOLLOWING:

➢ A PREZI with clips from the film

➢ A multiple choice quiz with six questions and answers

➢ Vocabulary – definitions for words that are crucial for understanding the Holocaust

I teach SCHINDLER’S LIST as a TEXTURE TEXT or a CONTEXT TEXT usually alongside THE REPUBLIC. It is an excellent film to use when studying philosophical concepts including, but not limited to, the following: morality, ethics, sacrifice, freedom, courage, and the power of hope.

If you are interested in engaging your students in higher order thinking (focusing on texts and ideas that raise questions regarding justice, mercy, power, ethics, and hope) please FOLLOW ME to be informed of my upcoming units on Plato’s Republic and Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra. I have several posted already. See the following:

How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases:
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There are 6 syllable types in reading which are Closed Syllable, V-C-e Syllable, -r-Controlled Syllables, Open Syllables, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong Syllables, and Final Stable Syllables. The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts. This packet of 6 games give students a fun way to learn the syllable types. The games can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. This is a great game to use to differentiate a reading lesson. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading!

The mega bundle packet includes 400+ words lists and 70+ games and activities!!!

There are 6 syllable types in reading. The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts. Learning to read by identifying the type of syllable is the most consistent method to teach reading to your students, and the easiest way for your students to learn to read. All of the

words lists incorporate patterns using all the vowels. The closed syllable and V-C-e syllable target words using common phonograms.

This packet of activities and games give students a fun way to learn the syllable types. The activities/games can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading!

If you would like to preview what is in the packet, just click on my individual bundle packets for each syllable type to preview the materials included in this mega bundle.

These clip-art clocks are saved as 300 dpi png files.
They include frost styled clock faces
stylized minute, hour, and second hands
flat black hour and minute hands
plus outlines of the clock-face and handsThese can be layered and arranged with the clock hands displaying any time you like.

When I was teaching kindergarten and first grade, my students always had Reading Buddies (older students from a partner class). The older buddies usually came weekly to read with my students and do a fun activity.

Having a Reading Buddy program in my classroom is one of the things I missed when I was teaching Reading Recovery. When I became a special education teacher (providing literacy support to students up to the third grade), I set up buddy reading between some of my third grade students and snacking Kindergarten students. Half of them were interested when I first suggested bringing their ‘most practiced’ books to kindergarten, weekly, during recess. After the first month,click here to continue reading…

This bundle contains six units that give specific word examples of each syllable word type. The six syllable types of reading are Closed, V-C-e, Open, r-Controlled, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong, and Final Stable. Each unit provides a plethora of word lists that target each syllable type. Teaching reading by syllable types provides students with a clear-cut understanding of the English language. The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts.

It might be “Christmas in July” but it’s “BACK TO SCHOOL” in August! Here’s a photo of my boxwood bushes done up with lights during the past holiday season.Well, it’s not Christmas yet but I do have a FREEBIE for you. Read on.

I’ve just finished a GIANT file of numeral and number counting posters. The posters have mosaic backgrounds. I purchased these papers from Bev’s Learning Hut and I couldn’t be more pleased with how beautiful they turned out! Best of all, mosaic designs have been in existence for a long time and they NEVER go out of style!

There are a total of SEVEN sets of colors in the priced file. I’m offering one set as a FREEBIE. (Merry Christmas in July!) The colors included in the larger file are red, blue, green, pink, orange, purple, and light blue. You’re getting the red set with blue fish!

Each set of posters includes numerals zero through twenty. There are colorful fish displayed on the posters to match each numeral shown. The children can practice counting skills by counting the fish on any given poster. If you display the posters at the children’s eye level on your classroom wall, they can practice counting during their spare time.

Each numeral is approximately 7 centimeters tall. The numeral font that I used is a ideal for modeling correct numeral formation. The numeral “4” is formed with straight lines. The line on the numeral “9” is straight so that is does not appear like an upside down “6”.

I have created these poster with simplicity in mind so that educators can use them to focus on a few of the related Common Core Math Standards for kindergarten. Those are:

1. Writing numerals 0 to 20.

2. Reading numbers 0 to 20.

3. Counting up to 20 objects (with numbers 0 to 10 in scattered formation) and naming the corresponding number.

You will need colored ink to print the posters. I recommend printing them with white cardstock paper. If you’d like, laminate them for long lasting use.

The slide show below shows some of the posters from the large file. You might notice that I was able to print without a white edge around my pages. The mosaic backgrounds are very attractive when there is NO WHITE BORDER. Plus, printing without the white edge means that you won’t spend any time trimming. I’ve included a tutorial on how to print without the white border. You can also view this blog post to see picture directions: Borderless Printing Tips for Teachers.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Click the FIRST image to view the posters at my Teachers Pay Teachers shop. Click the SECOND image to get the FREE, 0 to 20 number posters with the red mosaic style.I hope that you are enjoying your summer break! School will be coming soon!

Syllables can be divided by saying them orally or by using a pencil and paper. If we orally divide a word into syllables, we usually clap the word out. For example, if we orally divided the syllables of polish, we would clap out ‘pol’ and ‘ish,’ and that would be two claps. If we divided the syllables on paper, we would place a slash between the ‘l’ and ‘i’ in the word ‘pol/ish.’

So rather that placing a slash, there is another way to show the number of syllables in a word, and that is to scoop the syllables. This is how that would look: p o l i s h. This way not dividing the word with a slash avoids the look of a misplaced letter in the word, and it also avoids the idea of students thinking the word has only one syllable since there is just one slash. With the idea of scooping with the finger or with a pencil, students can feel and see the scoops which in turn matches the number of syllables.

This packet contains 64 task cards that allow students to practice scooping words with two closed syllables.

Simply print and cut along the guidelines. One idea is to print on card stock or on colored paper. Laminate and use them again and again and keep them in a baggie. Another option is to hole-punch a corner of each card and put them all on a ring.

Next Generation Science Standards “I Can” Statements for the Structure and Properties of Matter – Full page size. These “I Can” Statements are aligned with the *Next Generation Science Standards for 2nd grade. Statements include all 2-P1 and K-2-ETS1 Next Generation Science Standards.

Each statement has kid-friendly images and is written in kid-friendly language. Every NGSS I Can Statement has the standard for the teacher’s reference.

I have also included a page with attractively outlined words for a bulletin board heading.

See the link below for my complete Structure and Properties of Matter unit, designed as an interactive notebook.

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*Next Generation Science Standards is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards was involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

This reading unit provides 55 pages of the V-C-e syllable type word lists. V-C-e is one of the six types of syllables in reading. The lists in this unit include words spelled using each vowel in conjunction with common phonograms. These lists of words will help students recognize the common patterns seen in V-C-e syllables.

The 71 page unit includes activities and games that can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading! Here is a list of the activities and games included in this packet:

This resource is designed for literacy rotations to reinforce the explicit teaching of the high yield active comprehension strategies. All that is required is to print out the resource and provide a standard die.

The activities include the following options: Predicting, Clarifying, Questioning, Visualizing, Summarizing, Connecting, Questioning and Inferring. (The “Visualizing” and “Summarizing” cards are included with both a “z” and an “s” in the spelling, so teachers can choose the appropriate spelling for their students). This resource therefore includes both U.S. and Australian spelling.

Check out my blog for more information and ideas about embedding higher order thinking and rigour in the teaching of reading: http://ripperresources.blogspot.com.au/

This resource is for personal/classroom use only and is not to be distributed further. Multiple licenses are now available at TpT for half price. No sharing of this product is permitted through internet groups/blogs, offline groups, school district or regional websites/servers,discussion lists, school websites/servers, or personal websites.

If you download this product please take some time to rate it and provide me with some feedback. As well, please consider becoming a follower of my TpT store so that you will receive notification when I release new products.

The bundle packet includes 75 games and activities that all target teaching the 6 types of syllables in reading: Closed Syllables, V-C-e Syllables, r-Controlled Syllables, Open Syllables, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong Syllables, and Final Stable Consonant Syllables.
The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts. Learning to read by identifying the type of syllable is the most consistent method to teach reading to your students, and the easiest way for your students to learn to read.These 75 activities/games can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading!At the present, I am creating my last packet of game and activities to go with the final stable syllable type, and once I complete it, I will make it available. Also, if you would like to preview what is in the packet, just click on the preview tab and you can see a sample of some (not all of them) of the games in the packet.

These questions are helpful for students who are trying to understand the background of Macbeth. There are seven questions that require students to research about the historical facts, people, myths, legends, beliefs of the period, and some of the reasons why Shakespeare is said to have written this play.

This packet is designed to give the teacher some information about forming groups and some suggestions to activities that can be used in pairs and groups of 4 but also with other size groups with different directions. These ideas can be used with any content and at any grade level.

Print is all around us in many forms. Media literacy and environmental literacy make up another layer of literacy!

For families of young children:

Use this as a take-home family project or for an individual homework activity. This download includes 2 different take-home printables, or two versions. You can hand out one at the beginning of the year, and the second one later on, or let the kids choose which one to take home.

For families of all ages!
Kids take this home to do with their families or siblings. It’s a great opportunity for your youngsters to see that environmental print and media text (no matter how big or small) is all around us!

I use reading scavenger hunts as one of my annual literacy week activities. Each reading hunt is a simple checklist, but it has a multi-purpose: to teach print awareness, encourage family reading, and open up new opportunities for reading and writing in and outside the home.

Inter-generational use:
Emergent and beginning readers would share this activity with a sibling, a parent, or grandparent, or caregiver. Perfect for after school programs, too!

For ESL students:
It’s also a natural way to bring print awareness to your students who are learning English as a second language.

Option
You set the deadline date in the space, and the number of how many items they need to find, read, and check off. They check off items that they have found and read. They must bring in a little proof (i.e., a coupon, a note, or a label) as part of the assignment. Parents, or guardians and students must sign at the bottom to verify the scavenger hunt was completed. Yes, it is pretty much an honor system, but everyone has fun doing it. I usually hand out little prizes for completing this (pencils, bookmarks, fun erasers, or Smarties candies…). You really can make this as fun as you want!

FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ALONG TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS! (You may send it to them via email, too. I just ask that this is not sold or repackaged, and this store link and Growing Smart Readers remains as the source. Thanks!)

This bundle contains six units that give specific word examples of each syllable word type. The six syllable types of reading are Closed, V-C-e, Open, r-Controlled, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong, and Final Stable. Each unit provides a plethora of word lists that target each syllable type. Teaching reading by syllable types provides students with a clear-cut understanding of the English language. The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts.

This 26-page Spanish Geometry unit has essential Spanish math vocabulary to build a foundation of math understanding. Use whole class, with second language learners or struggling math students. Fun way for students to meet the Common Core Standards!

Reproducible black lines included in this package:
-assessment
-activities to send home
-easy to use teacher
-teacher’s guides
-easy game assembly
-variety of games
-complete game boards and game cards
-activity black line masters

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There are 6 syllable types in reading which are Closed Syllable, V-C-e Syllable, -r-Controlled Syllables, Open Syllables, Vowel Digraph & Diphthong Syllables, and Final Stable Syllables. The basic overall purpose of learning syllable type reading is to give students 6 reading strategies to aid them in chunking longer words into short, readable parts. This packet of 6 games give students a fun way to learn the syllable types. The games can be placed in language stations, or they can be played during small groups. This is a great game to use to differentiate a reading lesson. So enjoy as your students learn another way to break the code to reading!

This unit is a package of 10 activities and games that are designed to make it easy for students to learn to read r-controlled syllable type words. There are 6 syllable types, and r-controlled is one of the six types. These syllables are called –r-controlled because the –r is in control and the vowel is out of control when sounding out the word. Instead, of the vowels making their normal sounds, the –r decides for them what sound the vowel is going to make. Reading and spelling r-controlled words require visual memory and experience. These games will teach students a few consistent tips to remember when reading these kinds of words. There are five -r-controlled vowels–ar, -er, -ir, -or, -ur. These five vowel spellings make 4 different sounds. The packet includes 75 -r-controlled words cards and the following 10 games:

20 different 120-number grid puzzles (hundreds charts) with missing numbers. They are designed to be used as centers during your math block. This is great practice for students figuring out patterns in numbers. Students can use a full hundreds chart to help them complete the missing numbers, or you can use it as a way to assess their place value understanding and number sense.

Fifty percent of our English language is closed syllable type words. Once a student learns this syllable type, they have a great foundation upon which to build. So it is a well worth our efforts to invest our time teaching this syllable type if we are going to have successful readers. I created this packet for my students to have fun learning closed syllable type words. There are 6 syllable types, and closed syllable is the most basic type to teach.

This bundle includes two units: The first unit, ‘Reading Closed Syllables’ provides 158 word lists of the closed syllable type words. Also, a master list of all the words is included as a quick reference. The lists in this unit include words spelled using each vowel in conjunction with common phonograms. These lists of words will help students recognize the common patterns seen in closed syllables. Also, reading will become more manageable for students once they understand the different syllable types.

The unit, ’15 Games & Activities Teaching Closed Syllables’ include 15 fun games and activities that can be placed in literacy centers for the students to enjoy. The following games are included in this packet: